College of Health and Human Services

Advancing impact in the world of health and well-being

California State University Long Beach College Health Human Services exterior rendering

Client: California State University, Long Beach
Location: Long Beach, CA, United States
Size: 130,000 square feet
Status: In progress

Taking a bold approach to interdisciplinary learning and collaboration, the College of Health and Human Services (CHHS) at Cal State Long Beach is affectionately being described as “The Partnership College.” The vision for the college, which brings together these Health Science departments for the first time, is to create a collaborative learning environment, support faculty development and serve the Long Beach community.

With campus-wide student success as a driving design element, the building will be a communications hub for students to get information about general education advising, major academic advising, and career-related advising.

To honor the cohesive vision and clean lines of the original campus design, it's critical that the building not only fit within the character, scale and materiality of the existing campus but advance an architectural expression that is reflective of the innovative and ambitious spirit of the CHHS mission.

California State University Long Beach College Health Human Services rendering — To honor the cohesive vision and clean lines of the original campus design, it's critical that the building not only fit within the character, scale and materiality of the existing campus but advance an architectural expression that is reflective of the innovative and ambitious spirit of the CHHS mission.

The College of Health and Human Services will educate 80,000 students in the next 10 years.

Replacing the school’s historic Peterson Hall, the new building will play a key role in the evolution of the campus plan by establishing a unified presence for the CHHS, expressing the unique campus culture and furthering the mission to deepen its collective impact in the world of health and wellbeing.

The new 130,000 sf building will be a centralized hub of cross-discipline learning and engagement. It will provide a unique opportunity to bring together 11 unique departments including Family and Consumer Sciences, Healthcare Administration, Health Sciences, Nursing, Physical Therapy, recreation and Leisure Studies, and Social Work into one building.

The CHHS is located at the heart of the campus and is highly visible as the keystone of the original and historic Central Quad.

The student space will include study rooms, student club meeting space, study spaces, student lockers, and a lounge for students to gather.

Several spaces throughout the building are deliberately designed to encourage student interaction and collaboration.

The CHHS will be based on an interdisciplinary teaching model that includes teaching labs that can be shared across college departments, research space, office and administrative space, student study and collaboration spaces, food science lab, a clinical simulation area, and a public teaching clinic to be operated with a local healthcare Clinical Partner.

This new building is the result of the hard work of our faculty and staff, who shared a vision to bring many of our programs together in one space.

Dr. Monica Lounsbery Dean of the College of Health and Human Services